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I think several people (including me) asked what was inside the box, and knew what it was. If no one else had known you'd have got the lot for a song, whereas there was quite a bit of internet and room bidding. I just dropped out of the online bidding when it got beyond what I though was the right price for an unusual Whitefriars in the present climate!

Alan

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Alan"There are two rules for ultimate success in life. Number 1: Never tell everything you know."

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Hi Alan, thanks for dropping out when you did. I still rate it as underpriced. It's a good job we each have our own reference points for these things or life would be boring. Did you see the Whitefriars "petal" PB302 on German e-bay a couple of weeks ago that sold for 600 euro. One and a half times what even I thought it would reach.

One of the weaknesses of being a collector is letting the heart rule the head when rare items in your special interest area come up. But then quality and rarity costs. I always reckon to balance astute buying of some weights with having to "invest" in others. However, if price was the only consideration then a recession can generally be a good time to build a collection.

I agree about the quality and rarity point - if you want a good antique Baccarat carpet ground or bouquet, or a top quality Clichy or Saint-Louis piece, you will have to pay a lot. The effect of the recession has been to push up the prices of the choice pieces - but in some areas it has led to a fall in prices - so as you say, a good time to build your collection. A typical Baccarat pansy can be picked up for half what it might have cost ten years ago, for example, and many Whitefriars are well below their peak prices. But it is a patchy effect - some makes seem to be unaffected.

Alan

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Alan"There are two rules for ultimate success in life. Number 1: Never tell everything you know."

The comments in this posting reflect the opinion of the author, Alan Thornton, and not that of the owners, administrators or moderators of this board. Comments are copyright Alan Thornton.http://www.pwts.co.uk

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Hi Tony a neighbour of mine has an ILN weight i havnt seen it but Ray Annenberg has and told me about it her house was broken into recently but she told me nothing of value was taken , she has invited me to pop in and see her glass anytime , i am glad you have reminded me . cheers john , jp

Not 100% sure this was my "Buy" of last week as some of the others were better but certainly the "Pleasant Surprise of the week".

I picked up some auction lots I'd bought and as usual apart from the one(s) you want there are often others in the lot. On collection I checked the ones I'd wanted and just packed the others straight in to a box.

On later inspection this one, just described as another paperweight and in the on line photo was a top down shot as my first one below although more distant and out of focus so I'd no idea what it was. I picked it up and recognised the label as Isle Of Wight, turned it over and to my surprise find it signed "Michael Harris Isle of Wight 1974"

I don't know a lot about Isle of Wight glass but I gather a Michael Harris signed piece is fairly rare and as he moved back from Malta to start Isle of Wight glass in 1973 this is fairly early?

Hi Roy, I'm curious about the design background of your ILN weight. Is it a P25 or another of these "trial" designs? By the way I finally added a large Owl to the collection and also a black swan.

Tony

Hi John, If your neighbour has a good Whitefriars glass collection including paperweights would she mind if you took some photos? Always nice to see other examples as there is so little coming onto the market these days.

Tony

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Hi Nick, really good find. As with other artworks a signed piece will be desirable. Pity it usually takes the artist's demise to realise the value! Don't you just love those occasional nice surprises when you buy a "job lot"? Kind of makes your day!!!